Improvement in newspaper-file holders



A. T; DEWEY.

NEWSPAPER FILE-HOLDER.

No. 183,753. Patented 0ct.31.1876.

WJQM 1 vuntol UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED T. DEWEY, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN NEWSPAPER-FILE HOLDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 183,753, dated October 31, 1876; application filed March 24, 1876.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED T. DEWEY, of Oakland and State of California, have invented an Improved Newspaper-File and I do hereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention or improvement without further invention or experiment.

My invention relates to an improved fileholder for newspapers and other sheets which require to be filed consecutively.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 shows the file open. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view. Fig. 4 shows the file applied.

Let A B represent two bars or rods, which may be made of wood, metal, or other suitable material.

In the drawing 1 have represented the bar A as being made longer than the bar B, so as to provide a handle, F, for the file-holder, and to serve as a retainer for the rubber rings f, as hereinafter described; but this handle could be done away with without materially affecting the character of my file-holder. These two bars, A B, 1 connect together at one end by means of an elastic hingejoint, so that their opposite ends can be opened out to receive the papers or sheets which are to be filed between them on the pins h h, which project from the bar A.

I have represented in the drawings a very convenient style of binge, which consists of an india-rubber ring, d, which is secured in the end of each bar by being strained through a slot, 6, in the end of the bars, and passed into an enlarged opening at the base of the slot, in which it will fit, so that it cannot readily be removed. This hinge is excellent, because it is also elastic, and will permit the upper bar B to be readily placed in various positions.

When the upper bar is raised above the points or pins h h it can be swung to either side or carried over vertically, so as to lie in line with the bar A, for the convenience of placing papers in the file. When the bar B is raised to a right angle to the lower bar A the elastic joint provides a tension, which will hold it in its upright position. It also yields by its elasticity to the thickness of the file between the bars.

The opposite ends of these bars I connect by means of an india-rubber or other elastic ring, f, which I stretch over the ends of the bars when they are closed down upon the file. The handle F serves to retain this ring when it is drawn ofi from the end of the bar B; but the handle could be dispensed with by fastening one side of the ring in the end of the bar A, in the same manner that I secure the ring 01 at the opposite end, if both bars were of about equal length.

The end of the bar B I cut beveling or inclined, so that the ring can be easily rolled or slid up it when it is desired to bind the two bars together.

This arrangement is quite simple and effective. The band, being elastic, expands as it rolls up the incline, and permits me to place it in position with but slight exertion in stretching the band over the end of the bar. I provide a concave seat in the bars A B for this ring by indenting the Wood at the point where the ring is to rest, so that it will rest in the indentation and not be liable to displacement. Around each pin I secure an elastic pad, 0, by making a hole in the pad and slippingit over the pin until it rests upon the bar, thus providing a base for the pin, upon which the first sheet of the file will rest. It is evident, then, that when the papers are clamped between the bars, these bases or pads will form a limited pressing-surface immediately around the pins, which prevents the papers from being readily torn off. They also enable me to insert longer pins in the bar A without their points protruding through the bar B, while but few sheets are on the file.

One or more of these pads may be slit open from the center, so that, as the sheets accumulate, the pads can be easily removed, thereby affording more space for filing sheets.

Theholes in the bar B, in which the pins enter, are enlarged on the lower side of the bar, so that the pins will readily enter them when the bars are closed together. A metrical scale is marked upon the back of the bar A, so that the file-holder will be convenient for ordinary purposes of measuring, especially in the country, where measuring-sticks are often needed and seldom found.

0, with enlarged bases w, in combination with the elastic ring d, as described.

2. The pads or bases, slit as described, and arranged to be removed separately as the thickness of the file increases, substantially as and for the purpose described.

ALFRED T. DEWEY. Witnesses:

JNO. L. BooNE, G. M. RICHARDSON. 

